In the arguments against drilling off the California coastline some things have been left out. For instance--seepage. The US Department of Interior has a website which talks about this phenomenon in the link above. The article cited is by James M. Galloway, Geologist, Pacific OCS Region. In the article he states, "Two small underwater containment structures positioned near Goleta Point, placed to collect natural seepage, have alone captured over 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas since 1982: enough natural gas to supply the needs of over 25,000 residential natural gas users each year."
I am one of the least scientific people I know, but it seems to me that if the oil and gas are already seeping into the ocean and "Today, especially on a warm summer day, a person driving through Santa Paula will smell petroleum fumes and notice thick, black crude oil running down the side of the road" the logical thing to do is put in some sort of oil well that will not only prevent seepage by giving the oil and gas a place to go, but help power America and help the state of California deal with its massive budget problems. It would seem to me that it is better for the envirnment not to be smelling gas and oil fumes as you drive along.
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